New Driveway for Good Counsel

Posted on by
L1250730

Some of the members of the Good Counsel Homes Spring Valley Volunteer Team with their latest project, the installation of a new driveway.

The Good Counsel Home for mothers and babies in Spring Valley received a big upgrade last month. The driveway was widened and repaved, and the sidewalk leading up to the front door was redone. The home’s Volunteer Team, who raised the funds and planned the work, would like to thank all the donors who responded so generously. The much-needed new driveway and sidewalk now provide safe and serviceable access for the residents and all who come to the Spring Valley home on business or to carry on the work of Good Counsel.

July 4 — Praying for Life and for America

Posted on by
DSC09973

Rockland Right to Life Co-Founders Jeanmarie Grahn and Margaret Fitton at the 2017 Vigil for Life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 4 —  Independence Day 2017 was marked by the annual Vigil for Life at the Marian Shrine in West Haverstraw.

The morning included the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the recitation of the Rosary and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Mass was celebrated by Fr. Nicholas Callahan, assisted by Deacon Bob Pang of St. John’s in Piermont.

The vigil was co-sponsored by the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants and the Rockland County Catholic Coalition.

Fr NC and Eileen

Fr. Nicholas Callahan and Eileen Peterson.

NY Legislative Session Ends With No Anti-Life Bills

Posted on by

Thankfully, the New York State Senate and Assembly adjourned on Wednesday, June 21, without taking up three anti-life measures. The bills had all been referred to various committees and progressed no further, with no committee votes or floor votes being taken.

A.3693 (S.159) — Additional funding to Planned Parenthood

A.6959A (S. 17A) — Allowing payment to surrogate mothers

A.02383 (S.03151) — Allowing assisted suicide (medical doctors to prescribe drugs to help patients end their lives)

While we’re relieved that none of these bills were passed into law during this session, it’s quite likely they will all be reintroduced next year. There’s even a possibility that the legislature may reconvene over the summer and might take up any of these.  So please stay vigilant, informed, and let your state legislators know what you think about these issues.

Bill Proposes Payment for Surrogacy in NY

Posted on by

Surrogacy is when a woman agrees to carry a pregnancy she did not conceive. The egg is fertilized outside the body and then implanted into the “surrogate mother” who carries the baby to term and then gives the child to the person or couple who commissioned the pregnancy. This bill would allow payment to the surrogate mother, thus introducing the possibility of “making parenthood a commercial enterprise” as well as exploiting a poorer woman who would carry the baby because she needs the money.  memo on Surrogacy bill-S17A, A6959A copy

House of Representatives Passes ‘American Health Care Act’ as First Step to Repeal Obamacare

Posted on by

A bill to repeal major portions of Obamacare passed the House of Representative Thursday by a vote of 217-212. Not one single Democrat voted for it. The bill now goes to the Senate for their consideration and will probably face major revisions there.

The bill, The American Health Care Act, contained a provision that would eliminate $390 million of federal spending to Planned Parenthood and redirect those funds to community health centers that offer a wider array of healthcare services — but not abortion.

Also, the American Health Care Act would reinforce the principles of the Hyde Amendment, which has historically prevented tax payer dollars from being used to pay for abortions, thus reversing Obamacare’s “multiple provisions authorizing federal subsidies for abortion, and abortion-expanding regulatory mandates,” according to the National Right to Life Committee.

Rockland’s representative in the House, Nita Lowey, voted against for this bill.